IBMA World of Bluegrass 2021 Update
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and its partners on the City of Raleigh’s local organizing committee have expressed cautious optimism that they will be able to hold a hybrid IBMA World of Bluegrass this fall (Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2021) with a meaningful and safe in-person component in North Carolina’s capital city, as well as online content.
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Virtual Winterfolk Blues & Roots Festival Set for Feb. 19-20
Winterfolk, Toronto, Ontario’s annual blues and roots festival, will be streamed online, February 19-20, 2021 from 7-10 p.m. EST both nights due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The scaled-back virtual edition of the popular festival, now in its 19th year, will feature some of the artists who have previously graced its stages. Registration is free, although donations for the Daily Bread Foodbank will be accepted.
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South Florida Folk Festival Goes Virtual, Feb. 13-14, 2021
After a number of years at Fort Lauderdale’s Hugh Taylor Birch Park, the Broward Folk Club moved its annual South Florida Folk Festival to another location last February. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, festival organizers have been compelled to pivot again. The 2021 South Florida Folk Festival will stream live online February 13 (from 2-7 p.m.) and 14, 2021 (from 2-7 p.m. and 2-6:15 p.m. EST, respectively) via the nonprofit organization’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
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Winners Named in 2020 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition
Six singer-songwriters have been named as winners in the 2020 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. They were chosen by a panel of judges from among 24 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts that streamed online October 10 and 11 on the Kerrville Folk Festival’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel as part of a Virtual Celebration held in place of the annual event on the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country.
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2020 Kerrville New Folk Concerts Go Online
Twenty-four songwriters who were named as finalists in the 2020 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters will perform the two songs they submitted during Virtual New Folk Finalists Concerts slated for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10 and 11, beginning at 1:30 p.m. CDT.
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Michigan Irish Music Festival Hosts Virtual Celebration, Sept. 17-20
The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing guidelines associated with it prompted cancellation of the Michigan Irish Music Festival that is held annually at Heritage Park in Muskegon. Determined to help keep Irish in y(our) hearts during the “weekend that would have been,” festival organizers have arranged a virtual celebration featuring special online musical and cultural performances that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home, Sept. 17-20, 2020.
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Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Goes Virtual
Over the span of more than 30 years, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival has drawn thousands of music lovers to Hillsdale, New York in the foothills of the Berkshires near the tri-state corner of NY, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prompted the cancellation of this year’s festival, a virtual one will take place online in its place over the same extended weekend – Thursday, July 30 - Sunday, August 2, 2020.
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Green River Festival On The Air, July 10-12
Although the 34th Green River Festival that features music and hot air balloons has been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, festival organizers have partnered with Northampton, Massachusetts-based radio station 93.9 The River (WRSI.com) to present Green River Festival On The Air, July 10-12, 2020.
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Old Songs and Folk Music Notebook Partner to Present a Virtual Festival, June 26-28
Old Songs, a three-day festival celebrating traditional music and dance, usually held at the Altamont Fairgrounds in upstate New York on the last weekend in June, is partnering with Folk Music Notebook, the 24/7 internet folk radio channel created and curated by veteran folk DJ Ron Olesko, to present a virtual festival, June 26-28, 2020. The audio-only event will feature new performances by artists who would have been at this year’s festival, along with archival recordings from past festivals.
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